Deadline: 10-Jan-22
Together with Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) is investing in a new One Health Research Program, promoting a collaborative, multi-sectoral and integrated approach to ensure the health of humans, animals and the environment across six countries in East and South-East Asia.
One Health promotes a collaborative, multi-sectoral and integrated approach to ensure the health of humans, animals and the environment. One Health acknowledges that you cannot achieve optimal health of the global human population if, for example the agrifood systems are broken, the environment is polluted, or veterinary systems and services are not adequately resourced to control zoonotic diseases and ensure the safety of the food that comes from them.
The ACIAR IDRC Research Program on One Health (AIRPOH) is a new initiative jointly funded by ACIAR and IDRC to support strategic research for development that will have a transformative impact on human, animal and environmental health into the foreseeable future. AIRPOH is seeking innovative interventions that demonstrate and promote the multiple benefits of improved agrifood systems to humans, animals and the broader environment under One Health.
Themes
The key objective of this call is to contribute to the continued operationalisation of One Health in southeast Asia through a portfolio of interconnected projects that address one or more of the following themes:
- The co-benefits of endemic zoonoses and foodborne disease control on national human and animal health systems, livestock trade, food and nutrition security (FNS) and household resilience.
- The role of agricultural land use change on human and/or environmental health, and the opportunities for innovative perspectives and approaches in thinking around sustainable and safe food production from a One Health perspective.
- Innovative integrated disease control models/tools that
- re-examine current disease control models for improvement and/or
- identify novel approaches to address issues such as animal and human health service delivery and environmental management.
- Evidence and policy for strengthening animal health systems to better support regional public goods such as food safety, pandemic preparedness and ecosystem health.
In addition to alignment with one or more of the themes, projects must demonstrate:
- A clear pathway to development impact through the packaging and communication of evidence suitable for the intended next and end-users of the research
- How social and gender equity will be central to the research approach
- How capacity and leadership for One Health research for development exists in the project institutions, and how this will be promoted and supported in the focus countries
Funding Information
AIRPOH has a total budget envelope of approximately AUD $4.3 million (CAD $4.0 million), from which up to 5 projects will be funded. Preference will be given to applications requesting a budget of up to a AUD 1 million (CAD 935,000). ACIAR and IDRC reserve the right to increase or decrease the requested amount as deemed appropriate. Contracting of successful projects is expected to occur by July 2022 and run until July 2025 (maximum 3 years).
Eligibility Criteria
- The focus of the research – and the lead organisation – must be based in one of the following eligible countries: Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Lao PDR and the Philippines.
- Projects are permitted to undertake research in partnership with colleagues and/or institutions from one or more additional countries from this list. ACIAR and IDRC may also give preference to applications from Universities or national research agencies over central government departments. Organisations in countries that are not focal countries for the research – including outside the Southeast Asia region – can still be involved in the project as Third Parties1 and should be listed in the application.
- However, applicants should note that the lead organisation cannot be a United Nations Organization or a CGIAR centre, given these agencies receive Australian and Canadian aid funding via other windows.
- Additional considerations for teams submitting applications:
- The lead organisation must have legal personality and be willing and able to enter into a contractual agreement, as the Commissioned Organisation, with ACIAR.
- Demonstrated diversity in the team members according to the ACIAR gender guidelines will be a major added advantage.
- The lead organisation must have submitted a completed application form (i.e. all required fields filled in and submitted on time). They will be unable to accept applications after the end date or by any other means than the online application form.
- The activities outlined in the application form must be focused on research for development. To be considered research there must be some evidence that the team can conduct a systematic investigation, with defined methods to establish facts and draw conclusions. There may be some development or capacity-building activities, and they encourage the use of participatory research approaches.
For more information, visit https://www.aciar.gov.au/AIRPOH